


Infinite

by Bablefishmouse



Series: Fictober 2016 [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Force Ghosts, Gen, Post RotJ, fictober2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-07
Updated: 2016-10-07
Packaged: 2018-08-20 03:01:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8233810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bablefishmouse/pseuds/Bablefishmouse
Summary: Obi-Wan had thought he might move on after the end of the empire, instead he finds himself alone, contemplative, and looking for his friend.





	

Infinite - limitless or endless in space, extent, or size; impossible to measure or calculate.

* * *

 

The Force was infinite. Obi-Wan had been taught that from a very young age, the force was infinite. The universe might be, but the republic wasn’t, and that was the important one. You certainly weren’t. Time wasn’t, planets weren’t. All things would end except for the force.

None of the lessons ever covered what happened when you were in the force. Not one with it, just casually swimming along as a very dead ghost, hanging around.

That made Obi-Wan seem a lot more relaxed than he was. The time immediately after his death had been very harrowing, as much as Luke had been trying his best. Still, he’d pulled it off in the end.

So now Obi-Wan had two ghostly companions semi-cohabiting in the force. Possibly for eternity. This hadn’t exactly been covered Sith Dammit. Mind you, not much of his life had been.

He’d tried asking Yoda, the one time he’d managed to catch him. The old Jedi Master had been as helpful as whistling at a herd of dead Banthas would have been. He would have asked Anakin on the off chance but…

Anakin had disappeared. Almost immediately after [Endor] he’d walked away, apologised, apologised for not apologising enough and disappeared. It wasn’t that he’d moved on, Obi-Wan could still feel him in the force.

So, given Luke, Leia, and the rest of the Alliance seemed to be doing fine, Obi-Wan packed up his remaining baggage, tucked it into the place of denial, and went looking for the ghost of the man who was once his friend.

He hadn’t been following either of his children, or even stalking poor Han Solo, nor was Anakin on his home planet of Tatooine. Obi-Wan didn’t expect him to be, he hadn’t wanted to come back either. Although it was nice to see that the power vacuum left by Jabba’d demise had uprooted the Hutt rule. It was about the only nice thing about Tatooine.

Anakin wasn’t on Coruscant – whatever it called itself now- either, as far as Obi-Wan could tell. There was a lot more going on, on Coruscant, and Obi-Wan’s usual source of information wasn’t going to talk to a force ghost.

Even amongst all the people, Obi-Wan would have noticed Anakin, death didn’t change your force presence.

So he wasn’t on Coruscant. Obi-Wan checked Corellia quickly, he doubted the legal racing tracks would be a draw, but it was on the way to-

Naboo. Abundant with the living force, yet in some ways Obi-Wan’s third least favourite planet. Too much suffering had happened here. Obi-Wan floated into Padme’s memorial temple. It was a small affair for an ex-queen and senator, but it would have been lovely for a stranger. The running water channels around the edges of the room tied the collections of mosaics, paintings and stained-glass together.

He paused in the centre of the room. Anakin wasn’t there, but-

“Senator Amidala,” Obi-Wan began, but that didn’t sound quite right. “Padme, I can promise you they’re safe.” Then he reconsidered, “No, I can’t, they truly are your children, straight in at the sign of trouble, and they’ll try to fix it no matter how much in danger they are. Do you know they brought down the Empire? Not single handedly, or even with their friends, but still. We wouldn’t have destroyed the first Death Star without them. Artwo and Threepio are with them, of all coincidences. Chewbacca as well, but I doubt you’d remember him.”

“Oh,” Obi-Wan sighed, lamenting that his lack of life meant a lack of air to exhale. Going through the empty motions didn’t have the same soothing effect. “I’m sorry, I’m really, really sorry. You were right, in the end. He did still have good in him. All these years later, killing me, standing by with Alderan. He still had good in him.”

Obi-Wan felt something move behind him. He paid it no attention, only a very strong force sensitive could even see him right now.

“It just took Luke to bring it out. I- I miss you so much. I hated the war, I hated fighting. But at the same time it might be the best point of my life. Anakin was around and himself, and I know he must have been slipping, and that I should have noticed, but I- I had friends, friends who considered me friends in return, well, two of them anyway.”

He took a fake breath in. “I know Anakin hated me then now, well maybe it was just resented and disliked to start with, but at the same time- it didn’t seem like it. As unsubtle as you two were, he must have been a better actor than I gave him credit for. Maybe that was the problem.” He walked forward, and pressed his incorporable forehead against the mosaic.  

It went in a little. Obi-Wan wasn’t even phased.

“I still miss you both so much. I miss the others too, Bail and Mace and Yoda and Siri and Satine and Ahsoka, Rex, Cody, Fives, Waxer, Boil, kriff, there were times I missed Slick.” Obi-Wan said, “But-“ Obi-Wan paused a moment, then stood upright and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I failed you all.”

“I failed you.” Obi-Wan heard from behind him. He knew that voice. Maybe they just couldn’t see each other anymore, that’s why he hadn’t been able to find him.

“I’m sorry, Obi- Master Kenobi. I’m so sorry.” Anakin Skywalker stood at the very entrance to the memorial temple.

Obi-Wan turned around and took a step towards him. Then he stopped, careful not to reach out. “Anakin – Knight Skywalker – I don’t know what to call you.”

“Anything you want,” Anakin said, “I ruined your entire life and murdered your friends and you’re here saying you miss the old me. Why in kriff do you think any of this is your fault?”

“Anakin,”

“No.” Anakin said, drawing himself up taller. “No. You do not get to persuade yourself I hated you the entirety of my youth. Were you the best at looking after a nine year old boy? No. I won’t pretend I didn’t spend a portion of my teenage years annoyed. But I- I tried to tell you many times how much you meant to me. I assumed you were annoyed at my attachment. Thought it was a failing.”

“Anakin-“ Obi-Wan took another couple of steps forward, “I- I probably would have done. I know I thought mine was.”

“Obi-Wan, I –“ Anakin took his first step into the memorial temple. “Can we touch in this state?”

“I have no idea.”

“One way to find out,” Anakin said, taking another step forward and reaching his hand out towards Obi-Wan. He wanted to grab him. He wanted to never let go. He’d killed him. He should never be forgiven.

Obi-Wan took the hand, then used it to pull Anakin into a hug. They clutched each other, bitterly wishing they could breathe in each other’s scent.

“I’m sorry,” they both muttered into each other’s shoulders.

“You were talking to Padme, I shouldn’t have intruded.” Anakin said. “I’m sorry.”

“I was here looking for you, I’m not.” Obi-Wan said, loosening his grip on the other ghost a little.

“I’ve been avoiding you.” Anakin admitted. “I thought you hated me.”

Obi-Wan didn’t answer that directly, instead just sighing, he should hate Anakin he couldn’t hate Anakin. “Do you want to go and bug your children?”

“I don’t think Leia will ever want to see me.” Anakin said.

“We could start with Luke.” Obi-Wan suggested.

“We could,” Anakin agreed. “I’d like to talk to her first though,”

“I’ll wait outside,” Obi-Wan agreed, letting his old friend go.

The old Masters at the Temple were right that the Force was Infinite. But they were wrong about so much else. The universe may or may not be infinite. The Force was, love was, kindness was, family was, or at least as far as it mattered.

What did something being infinite matter anyhow, people only lived so long, even if sometimes that wasn’t their end.

                                                                                           

**Author's Note:**

> Thank-you for reading, please leave a comment, let me know what you thought.


End file.
